


Surprises

by mocking_words



Series: 12 Days of Romanogers (Christmas 2016) [1]
Category: Captain America - All Media Types
Genre: F/M, Fluff, Surprises
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-12-14
Updated: 2016-12-14
Packaged: 2018-09-08 13:44:20
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,499
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8847310
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mocking_words/pseuds/mocking_words
Summary: Steve gets Natasha a surprise present





	

**Author's Note:**

  * For [ym4yum1](https://archiveofourown.org/users/ym4yum1/gifts).



If there was anything Steve hated, it would be surprises. After years of tactical warfare and watching countless lives being taken from a missed detail, he was more than ready to throw in the towel when it came to surprises. It wasn’t that he didn’t use the element of surprise often himself, but rather, he hated it when anyone else pulled it on him. It was fairly hypocritical to say the least, but there was no denying that the element of surprise might’ve been his least favourite element of all. That wasn’t to say he didn’t like handing out the surprises. In fact, it was one of his favourite parts. The Rogers household always welcomed _happy_ surprises and believe it or not it was always wonderful to see his wife try to contain the smile that was always threatening to show on her perfect face. It was never a very obvious smile but he could feel the affection that was practically pouring out from every fibre of her being. She was a tough nut to crack when it came to surprises but it never stopped him from trying, he was more than happy to go out of his way to try something different with her.

She had given him everything he’d never dreamt of having; stability, a wife, a family. Natasha Romanoff, in his biased opinion, was perfect. As a result, he was always wandering around the house, thinking of new, _pleasant_ surprises that he could pull off. It had become a game of sorts between them. If he could pull off a surprise without her figuring it out, he won but if he couldn’t, she won. They always found time to have a good laugh about it after, usually after she’d surrendered herself over. The Black Widow wasn’t easy to take down that was for sure.

But this time it was different. They had been meaning to do the advent calendar challenge Natasha had suggested, but she had gone off on a mission to Malaysia for the past two days. He couldn’t have called her if he needed to, let alone as badly as he _wanted_ to, because she needed to stay off the radar. He missed her and it was clear as day to everyone around him, including James. James was old enough to know what their jobs were. It wasn’t as if Steve could’ve hid it from him forever. It would've been impossible when their faces were plastered on the front page of the _Daily Mail_ every now and again. The kid was bound to find out one day and they didn’t want to hurt him by letting him figure it out himself. He'd taken it pretty well, considering he was still pretty young, only just passed his seventh birthday.

Steve had promised to pick Natasha up from Avengers HQ when she arrived later and after he put James to bed; he revved up the engine to his Audi and sped off towards headquarters.

The Quinjet she was on had just arrived when he pulled up. They had dragged her off for a medical examination prior to letting him take her home for just in case. It wasn’t anything too bad, just a few cuts and bruises here and there that would heal before she could get around to searching for them when she got home. She hadn’t had any baggage on her, Steve figured she had probably thrown everything away because half the time they were covered in somebody elses blood and she didn't want to let James see any of that. Steve wrapped his arms around her, inhaling the familiar scent that was just so _Natasha._ It was her scent mixed with the familiar scent of the detergent they used at home.

She smirked as she threw her hands around his neck, “Did you miss me soldier?”

“Who wouldn’t miss waking up to this beautiful face every morning?” he teased, leaning in to kiss her.

“Get a room you idiots!” Clint yelled, yanking at an arrow that was lodged in someone’s leg. A cry echoed through the room, inciting a few laughs from the agents hanging around the hanger.

“We’re leaving Barton, don’t kill anyone while I’m gone,” Natasha yelled. He hollered back, “No promises!”

Steve sighed; they were two grown ass people shouting at each other like children amidst a crowd of people. He couldn’t deny it was amusing to watch, though. “How was your flight?” he asked, reaching out to hold her hand.

“It was horrible, thank you for asking,” the spy smirked, “Clint wouldn’t shut up about the scratch on his new gear and the jet lag was enough to kill.”

“Sounds like you’re more than ready to go home,” Steve teased, leaving a kiss on her forehead as they reached the car. He opened the passenger seat door for her and she hopped in, “Thanks, soldier.”

“Anytime, ma’am,” he said, giving her a mock salute as he shut the door. Climbing in to the driver’s seat, he started up the engine, “It was pretty lonely without you.”

“As much as I love Barton, I missed my two boys too,” she smiled, turning her head to meet his gaze. He grinned, “We missed you too, Nat.”

“What have you been up to while I was gone?”

“Well, nothing interesting but I’ve been called in for a mission tomorrow, so I’ll be gone by the morning.”

She groaned, “I just got back and you’re leaving?”

He chuckled softly, “Duty calls.”

“And when are you getting back?”

“The day after tomorrow. Hey, I’ll be back before you know it.”

“You’d better be,” Natasha muttered, crossing her arms.

“James’ already asleep, unfortunately, so you’ll have to wait until tomorrow.”

“Well, I’ll be damned if I don’t fall asleep right now,” she yawned in response, “It’s been a long day.”

“Get some rest; I’ll wake you up when we get home.”

It was a silent drive back home; Natasha’s even breathing indicating that she was already fast asleep. When they got back, he carried her carefully, trying to avoid waking her up, towards their room, kicking the front door shut with the back of his foot. As he tugged off her jacket and tossed it on to a nearby chair, he laid her down, tucking her in.

It might’ve been harder to let her sleep if she was with someone else because she was trained to be a light sleeper, always on the run, afraid that someone would come after her. But she had hardly even stirred. He would be gone by the time she woke up tomorrow but he wanted to make sure she got the present he’d left her.

* * *

“Steve?” Natasha yawned, stretching her sore limbs. It felt good, sleeping in her own bed as compared to being cooped up in a small hotel room. She turned to see that Steve had already gone, but there was a wrapped box left on his pillow. It was a fairly large box with a note attached to it.

_Day 1_

_You didn’t have to find this, but I hope it brings a nice surprise to your morning. I’ll see you soon, I love you._

_-SR_

She felt a smile grow on her face and she was about to unwrap the box when there was a knock on the door.

“Mummy?” James called out, rubbing his eye with one hand, his favourite pillow clutched in the other.

“Hi baby,” Natasha grinned as he crawled on to the large bed, her reaching to hold him, “I’ve missed you.”

“I missed you too, mummy,” James said, snuggling in to her arms. God, she loved this boy so much. He reminded her so much of Steve, he was practically a copy-and-paste of his father. “I’m sorry I was gone for so long,” Natasha murmured, kissing the top of his head, “How was your time with daddy?”

“He ordered us pizza,” James giggled, “It was a really big pizza.”

Steve was a responsible parent but she was hardly one to say no to him ordering pizza, "That's great, sweetie. How about we get you some breakfast?"

"Okay, can I have cereal?" James asked, hopping off the bed.

"Of course," Natasha nodded, "Go brush your teeth, I'll meet you downstairs."

James nodded and ran off, pillow in hand. She took the opportunity to unwrap the present and almost laughed because it was pretty unexpected.

A puzzle.

She pieced it together eventually, before Steve got back. It was a picture of them all those years ago, when he'd proposed to her. She hadn't seen this photo before, which made her wonder how he'd gotten his hands on it in the first place. Steve had come home the day after, as promised, wherein she had shown him the completed puzzle now framed and hanging on their living room wall.

"Did I surprise you, though?" Steve asked, his hands around her waist, pulling her close.

"Pleasantly," she grinned, "By being the biggest cheese ever."

**Author's Note:**

> Leave some kudos and comments if you liked it x


End file.
